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A front-view shot of a man cleaning the floor with a mop, he is wearing casual clothing.

Cleaning products cause indoor pollution levels similar to a busy road

25 February 2022

Fragrant chemicals in scented surface cleaners react with ozone to produce pollutant particles that may be harmful to the respiratory system
Artist impression of the X-ray binary system containing a black hole (small black dot at the center of the accretion disk) and a companion star. The jet that is directed along the black hole spin axis is strongly misaligned from the rotation axis of the orbit. Image produced with the Binsim software.

Wonky black hole hints we don't understand how cosmic behemoths work

24 February 2022

We thought black holes rotated in the same plane as their orbit. One that is tilted by at least 40 degrees suggests our understanding of their behaviour needs an update
Ethiopian oat (Avena abyssinica). This grain has long been used in Ethiopia and is well adapted to the high elevations and conditions there.

Thousand edible plants identified as underused source of vitamins

24 February 2022

Comparing 6400 understudied wild plants with the better-known plants they are related to suggests that 1000 of them are rich in the B group of vitamins
An extreme example of facial asymmetry in a female Virunga mountain gorilla cranium (Tayna, individual GP.148), shown as a three-dimensional surface model with texture. This individual was not included in the sample as she was dentally immature at the time of death, but she exhibits an extreme version of the asymmetric pattern documented in this study.

Mountain gorilla inbreeding has distorted their facial features

23 February 2022

The mountain gorilla population is small and inbreeding levels are high – and now there’s evidence this inbreeding may explain why some gorillas have distorted facial features

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